I see the same type of season as '07. Have his struggles early on while Brady carries the offense. Then takes over late in the season when needed. HOPEFULLY Sammy stays healthy this time to help him out, it's hard to see us losing to anybody with those 2 healthy for the playoffs. Well, with Brady healthy too *prays*

Here's the beauty about "LoMo" - anything he gives us is a bonus. Truth : the Pats love to pass the ball (every year other than Dillon's 1st has been pass first). This past season, the Pats were a very good running team - without Maroney. So... whether he comes back or not doesn't necessarily affect the team's outlook. Anything he can contribute is a bonus. Maybe he totally takes over one game in the fall (like he did once against the Bengals). And that would already be more than he did in '08.

Cutting him would actually mean he has negative value since there would be some cap loss. Can't see it. Can he have a season to get him re-signed? That's a whole other question, I guess.

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Yea, my comment was questioning why in the hell we would cut the guy - Trade Him, Ok - But cut a guy that was instrumental in 2007's late season run is on this side of stupid.

I'm not a big LoMo backer - I can appreciate what he did late in 2007 when the weather started to turn and Randy and Tom were not 100%, but I think he's left a lot on the table and needs to prove himself.

If some of the veterans can get a hold of him and get his mind right - He may be able to turn the corner, and not dance around it.

I want to see him used more in the passing game, because I think that, if they can get him in space, he can be a huge contributor as a Faulk with more speed. Unlike a lot of people here, I love his style of running for this offense. I just think that the unsuccessful switch to zone blocking negatively impacted his game.

The team needs to do some research and see if they can find any 'tells' that let opponents know when there's going to be a pass to Maroney, and they need to tell the line to block like it did in the second half of last season instead of the way it had been doing ever since Dillon had left. If they can do that, I think Maroney will have a chance to be very good in this system.

I would love to see this kid come up huge this year. Its obvious he runs a different style than Morris and Jordan, hopefully the coaching staff and LoMo can get in some different style running plays in that he can adapt to, hell even some screens.

I just think that the unsuccessful switch to zone blocking negatively impacted his game.

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Why? I don't necessarily disagree, just curious. The zone blocking scheme was put in specifically for his running style, and it was the scheme he was used to running behind in college. Admittedly, I'm not terribly adept at diagnosing the performance of the O-Line in run blocking... did they not execute the zone scheme as well as they needed to, or is he just not as suited to the zone blocking in the pros?

I really think the time off and reflection will prove to be good for him. I know some people say he's made of glass, a bust, or whatever, but I'm going to head into the season optimistic.

Here's to LoMo and a comeback year!

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I'm with you and hope LoMo has a great year because tht would be good for the Pats, BUT I think we've seen what Kool-Aid is made out of and doubt he'll be any better than what we've seen. Good for 6 solid games, hurt for some, and ineffective for the rest.

I really think the time off and reflection will prove to be good for him. I know some people say he's made of glass, a bust, or whatever, but I'm going to head into the season optimistic.

Here's to LoMo and a comeback year!

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My biggest issue with LoMo is that I think that he has lost a step. Take a look at some games from his rookie year (the Cinci in particular). He main attribute is his speed. he made one cut and was gone and could then use his power to finish off runs. I just don't see that explosiveness anymore. Now this could be injury related and maybe having the majority of the year off will allow him to regain this step.

The guy has all the tools to be a feature back in the NFL. Time to put it together.

I want to see him used more in the passing game, because I think that, if they can get him in space, he can be a huge contributor as a Faulk with more speed. Unlike a lot of people here, I love his style of running for this offense. I just think that the unsuccessful switch to zone blocking negatively impacted his game.

The team needs to do some research and see if they can find any 'tells' that let opponents know when there's going to be a pass to Maroney, and they need to tell the line to block like it did in the second half of last season instead of the way it had been doing ever since Dillon had left. If they can do that, I think Maroney will have a chance to be very good in this system.

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What blocking style do you think the OL was using by the end of the year? Was it the zone-blocking that was attempted to be established during the off-season, or was it more a return to the hat-on-hat style of seasons past? Whatever it was, it was working. I now wonder if the OL is versatile enough to zone-block for a cutback-style runner like LaMa, and to straight-block for a downhill-style runner like Jordan. The answer to that question might determine any future success that LaMa has w/ the NEP. Then again, LaMa might just not have what it takes to become a 16-game, 250-carry workhorse anyway, in which case having another RB ready to go, be it Jordan or someone else, becomes even more important than it already should be.

Why? I don't necessarily disagree, just curious. The zone blocking scheme was put in specifically for his running style, and it was the scheme he was used to running behind in college. Admittedly, I'm not terribly adept at diagnosing the performance of the O-Line in run blocking... did they not execute the zone scheme as well as they needed to, or is he just not as suited to the zone blocking in the pros?

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The line appeared to me as if it just wasn't very good at zone blocking, generally speaking. If you look at the numbers of all the runners, it was pretty much the same across the board. I remember 2 years ago when people were pimping Morris over LoMo and LoMo still had the better numbers, the argument was that LoMo was getting too many negative runs. Of course, Morris was getting plenty of those same runs, but it was forgotten because people thought (operative word) that he was running harder and more decisively. Last season, it was pretty clear that the line was just not the same without Neal, and the running game was obviously much improved upon his return (and also when the blocking schemes were altered), no matter which runner was involved.

I do get the impression that Maroney runs in a manner that the team would like tweaked. However, that problem, based upon what I've heard from both sides, isn't so much about seeing holes and hitting them, as it is about when the team wants LoMo to give up on a dead play and just decide to take what little can be gotten. LoMo seems to want to keep waiting for something to open up past the point where the team wants him to just run up the backside of a lineman and take the 1 yard gain.

Personally, I side with Maroney, because this passing game can pretty much ignore 1 yard here and there, and I wish the coaches would make run blocking more of an imperative with this line. Ever since this zone blocking was introduced, I've gotten the impression that this line is much less aggressive than it used to be, and I'd like to see the return of a punishing ground game. Even when this team was playing "3.4 yards and a cloud of dust" with Smith, it was using the run to just pummel the opponent. I don't see that anymore. Now, if they want to sell their souls to the devil and bring in Alex Gibbs, that would work for me. Barring that, though, let's get back to putting a hat-on-a-hat and knocking the snot out of the defense.